A Cato Tale
by girlwiththearrow
Summary: So Cato is preparing for the games but will he have any obstacles in the way?
1. Chapter 1

**A Cato Tale **

Chapter 1

It was like any other morning: get up, get changed, eat and then go to training. Many of the people at my training center get bored of it after a while but not me. I loved training and being better than all the rest. So, that's why this year is my year, I'm going to be the boy tribute for District 2.

I've been waiting for this for my whole life. When I first tried out to be a potential career and got in, I was so excited and I was convinced I would become the tribute one day and here I am. Now that I am 16 and trained for 4 years of my life, I am ready.

I look at the clock: 7:00. I should have been up half an hour ago. I shrug it off and get changed at a normal pace, as if I'm not late at all. I pull on the clothes I wear every day to training: black trousers tucked into my black boots and a black top with the number 2 on each sleeve to stand for my district. I take one last look at my plain room before closing the door and making my way downstairs.

I call out for my parents: "Mum? Dad?"

I shrug as they must have gone to work early. They are Peacekeepers and they have to be ready to go to work at any time they are asked to. I quickly run into the kitchen to grab an apple and rub it on my shirt as I close the door.

I start to walk at a normal pace down my road and to the training center as I start to eat my apple. The training center is only a 10 minute walk from my house so I could be there within a reasonable time.

Within what seems like no time, I can see the training center and have finished my arrow. I throw it to a bin 10 meters away from me. It goes in.

"Yes!" I say quietly to show my achievement.

As I lift my head up, I see an unfamiliar girl running towards the training center to try and make it on time. She's around 50 meters in front of me so I can't see very well but I can see that she does have very dark brown hair. If I don't know who she is now, I'm guessing that I soon will so I continue to walk to the training center.

"I'm here, anyone miss me?" I say in my usual smirk tone to make me sound better than the others. I am better anyway, so why shouldn't I use that tone?

I see my boys come towards me and we give each other manly hugs. The girls are off in the corner whispering to each other, probably about me. They all love me so I give them a wink and I hear them all giggle. I would go out with one of them but I'm too busy with my training and I think they are all too bitchy for my liking. Then I see the hair of the mysterious girl that I saw running earlier, she is facing my trainer, Brutus. Brutus sees that I am here and starts with the training session.

"Hello everyone, glad we are all here." He begins to say. "Today we have a new student who has moved up from the group below but is still a real contender for the female tribute this year."

Then she starts to turn around and I see her full face. It's beautiful. Her hair falls perfectly over her face and she has freckles that cover her nose and cheeks and beautiful brown eyes. I think my mouth might have dropped open when I first saw her but I bring it back together when Brutus says to get going with the training.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I make my way over to the spears and swords part of the training center as I always do but I am always looking back to the mysterious girl. I see that she is making her way over to the knifes part of the room. She picks one up, examines it and throws it straight into a dummy's heart. Wow. She's good. I really want to talk to her, to know her name, to get closer to her. She's the only girl that I would give up anything to be with her, to save her and I don't even know her name.

Wait, what am I thinking? I am not Cato who falls in love with a girl he doesn't even know. I'm Cato, the handsome, tough guy who focuses only on his training.

I throw a spear. Lands right in the dummy's heart. As always. However, I can't stop looking over at her but she seems to be paying no attention at all so I decide to forget about her and continue to focus on my training for the day.

At the end of the day Brutus comes up to tell me how well I did today as he always does. I'm not really listening as I am looking for the girl but she must have left or is in the changing rooms. As soon as Brutus has finished talking to me, I see the girl walking out of the training center and go up to talk to her.

"Hi" I say as nicely as possible.

"Hi" she says back but not really paying attention to me but her bag which she was packing.

"So, as you're new to this group of training I don't know you. What's your name?"

"Clove. And yours?" Still only interested in her bag. Clove. It's such a beautiful name to go with the girl.

"Mine's Cato. Want me to walk you home? District 2 can contain some real bad boys." I say as seductively as possible.

She smirks and this is when her eyes meet mine for the first time. "I know what you're playing." She begins. "I'm not interested. I want to be focused on my training." Is all she says and then she walks home.

That actually hurt. I have no idea why but it did. She is so much like me. She wants to focus on her training too so I guess I have to respect that. I walk home and try and to forget this whole thing that happened. I HAVE to focus on just my training; I keep telling myself over and over again until I get home.

I do what I normally do. Eat, play around, not doing much until my parents come home and I greet them. They are happy to see me as always but I am usually too occupied with what I want to do the next day in training to care. I don't really care either but I'm not too sure why today. I decide to go to bed and continue how I usually am towards everyone tomorrow as I don't want to be known as anyone else but the tough guy Cato.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews, they mean a lot :') i dont know if you reply to them because I have no idea how fanfiction works so yeahh. but here is chapter 3.**

Chapter 3

I get up and go to training as I normally do. I act as if it's a normal day- impressing the ladies and making the lads proud. I forget about Clove and she seems like she is confused with me not noticing her after what happened yesterday. Maybe she does like me but she doesn't want to admit it. Not that I would care as I only have time for my training to be in the Hunger Games.

After training, Clove comes up to me to my surprise.

"Why are you ignoring me?" she says innocently.

"I'm not" I say which when it comes out, it sounds like an obvious lie.

"Don't lie to me." she says, looking down at the floor. "Please just tell me. If it's anything I've done or said yesterday, then I'm sorry, I take it all back."

She takes it all back? Does she even mean the part about when she said she wasn't interested and was only interested in her training? "You don't have to." I say in a confused way as I'm still trying to figure out what she meant. We look at each other for an awkward moment before I realize that I am leaning in closer to her. Our lips have met before I know it and after a second or two I pull away and jog home.

What did I just do? I kissed Clove? But I pulled away and left her there alone? I don't know what I'm thinking, I'm so confused. I wanted to focus on my training but then I got lost in her brown eyes and I guess I couldn't control myself. I can't believe I just left her there.

I walk home and try to figure out what went on and what I cared about more. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings so when I got home I had come to a decision. I was going to do well in training during the day and then after training I will be focused on Clove, the girl I love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry its been a while, i havent been on my computer but here is chapter 4 :)**

Chapter 4

It's been 2 days since I first met Clove. 2 days and I'm already in love with her.

I decide to ask Clove if she wants to go out after training as I want to keep a reputation around the training centre that I'm still the same guy that I have always been. She is the one that is avoiding me today but I can't blame here because, well, I just left her yesterday. The training seems to go on for so much longer than it usually does. Why does this always happen when I have something to do after it?

After what seems like an eternity I catch Clove just as she is walking out of the training centre. Wow, she looks even more beautiful today than she normally does. Focus Cato, I think to myself. I stand up tall and walk towards her.

Just like she was when I first decided to talk to her, she was arranging the contents of her bag. I try to say the words that I want to say but I realise that I am tongue-tied. After about 10 seconds, I get my words out but they come out really fast: "Look Clove, I really like you but I want to keep my reputation but at the same time I really want to date you so would you like to go out with me after training and stuff?"

"Slow down!" She says and laughs slightly. I knew she heard what I said though. After a brief pause she talks again. "I know how you guys work." She sighs. "That's why I don't know why I'm falling for you but I am. I don't really want to be your secret girlfriend that you hide from everyone but if that's what it takes then I'll give it a try." She gives a small smile after she says this.

She must like me a lot to agree to be my secret girlfriend but I'm so glad that she actually accepted especially after what happened yesterday. "That's great!" I say with obvious excitement in my tone. "So, would you like to meet me in the meadow after training tomorrow?"

"Sure, I would love to" she says as she lifts her head up to let me see her smile. She kisses me on the cheek and quickly takes off to her house.

It was like one of them movie moments. I bring my hand up to hold the cheek in which she kissed and stared off into the direction in which she walked off.

As I am looking, I catch something in the corner of my eye and immediately take my hand off my cheek as I realise that my friends are running towards me. Great. Time to show the side of me that is not loved up, caring or even kind to be honest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, I keep forgetting to put this on. Don't hate me **

Chapter 5

Please don't say they saw this; please don't say they saw this. I repeat this over and over in my head until they get here. 'Hey guys' I saw nervously as they finally make it over here.

'What were you doing talking to Clove?' one of my friends says in a mocking tone and he winks. At least they didn't see the kiss as they would have come straight up and started to tease me about it.

'Nothing, she just asked if I was going to volunteer in the games.' I had to lie. I couldn't' tell them the truth.

'Well, are you? The games are a week away so you should know by now.' Shit. A week away? I am going to volunteer for the games but that means I won't have much time with Clove beforehand. I'll come out alive so I guess we can spend the rest of our lives together after that.

'Yes, of course I am' I reply. They all congratulate me.

'You going to come with us? We are all going to the meadow behind the training center to practice.'

'No, it's fine. I'm going to go home and do some individual training.' That was a lie. I was going to think about what to wear and do on my date with Clove tomorrow.

I sped off home and went straight into my room. I picked out a brown t-shirt and some brownish colour shorts and put them in the bottom of my bag I take to training to get changed in after training tomorrow. I run downstairs and go into the kitchen and grab some light snacks like crisps and stuff and put them in the bag too. This will give us something to eat. I punch my punch bag for a while to make sure I am still strong for training and before I know it, it is 10 o'clock.

'Oh god, I've got to get up at half six tomorrow' I say and walk to my bedroom to get ready for bed. My parents aren't home which is strange but sometimes they do work late. I pull off my clothes and get into my pajamas before having a quick shower, cleaning my teeth and getting into my bed. I look at the clock as I lay down and it says 10:30.

Tomorrow is going to be amazing, I think as I close my eyes and fall into a deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for your kind reviews. They mean the world :3**

Chapter 6

I wake up to the beeping of my alarm beside my bed. I groan and slowly start to get up. Today is my date with Clove. I smile at the thought of this. I get changed as normal and go downstairs to find that my parents are not home. They obviously got in late and then left early the next day. I grab my training bag and start to go to training. One last look at the clock says it is 7:30. Plenty of time to get to the training centre which is only a 10 minute walk away? I can't help smiling the whole way to think I'm going to have such fun after training. The training centre is up ahead. I stop, breathe and make myself believe that I am a tough guy with no heart at all. I breathe again and then walk in.

I do as I normally do, impress the lads and ladies. Clove keeps looking over to me and smiling. I love her but can she not do that! The guys are going to think there is something going on between us and that is the last thing I want to happen. The guys don't seem to have noticed so that is good. They never really were smart but in times like this, I guess I'm grateful for that. Training day has finished so I go into the changing rooms and wait for all the guys to leave. Then I get changed. I take my bag and I see that Clove is waiting for me at the front of the training centre in her own clothes.

'Hi!' I say as I walk up to her.

'Hi!' she replies.

'Can I ask you a quick question? You'll probably think I'm the rudest guy for doing so but the girls wouldn't happen to know about us, would they?' I manage to give a small smile.

'No. Don't worry, I wouldn't do that.' She smiles a bit too.

'Thank you!' I say happily and kiss her hand.

She smiles. 'Ready to go?'

'More ready for anything.' I smile and wink. She smiles at the floor and I take her hand to walk her to the meadow. For the next couple of hours we sit, chat and eat the snacks I brought. I learnt a lot about her like her parents are Peacekeepers as well and that she's been training for the Hunger Games since she was 6. Then a terrible thought hit me, if she's been training all this time, she must be volunteering this year. She's only 15 though so she could wait while this would be my last time as I'm 18. The age gap doesn't bother me though as my parents are 8 years apart and as I learnt today, hers are too. We have so much in common. Anyway, I decide to ask her if she will be volunteering.

'Clove, you wouldn't happen to be volunteering for this year's games, would you?' I say concerned so she gets my point.

'I was going to but when I started to develop feelings for you I won't because I know you are volunteering and only one comes out so we couldn't be together. I know you're going to come out and in a few years I'll go in and will come out too. Then we can both live together.' She smiles.

'That's great because I know I can't back out of it and I could never kill you, ever.' I say. I then hug her tightly to show that I really do love her. It's been 4 days. What is happening to me? I pull away from the hug but the space between us seems unbearable so I lean in for a light kiss. She smiles and as we pull away she says 'I love you Cato.'


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Did she just say she loves me? Do I love her? Of course I do. Say it then, it's been like 10 seconds and she's looking at me like she has just said the stupidest thing ever. She starts to get up but I pull her back down.

'I love you too Clove.' I say. 'Sorry my answer took so long, I was just thinking if I do really love you and I do. You know me, I don't give my love away to just anyone.' I smirk.

She smiles and looks at the ground. I look at the time: 8 o'clock. Shit, I should have been home 2 hours ago and my parents should be worrying. I stand up and pull Clove up with me. She looks at me really confused so I explain.

'I was supposed to be home ages ago, I'm sorry Clove.' It pains me to just leave her like this.

'Well, you better walk me home then.' She begins. 'District 2 can contain some real bad boys.' She winks and laughs. I laugh with her at her saying my line from when I first met her. I walk with her to her house. Her house is massive, much bigger than mine and I'm staring at it in awe before I feel Clove's soft lips against my cheek.

'Goodnight Cato.' She says and smiles. She runs inside before I have a chance to say anything back and I whisper under my breath as I walk home 'Goodnight Clove.' I smile and whistle the rest of the way.

_1 Week Later_

BEEP BEEP BEEP. I wake up to the sound of my alarm screeching for me to get up. I throw the covers off me and find clothes at the end of my bed with a note on top. It reads: 'Sorry honey, Tom and Ross were ill today so we had to take their places. We will be at the side watching you. Go get 'em honey!' I look under the note to see my fancy clothes.

Oh god today was the day of the reaping. Clove and I had already come to an understanding that she was not going to volunteer for the games and I got to spend a lot of time with her and after, when I come out, I will do again.

I sigh and get into my clothes. At about one o'clock, I start to walk down to the square in which the reaping takes place. I let the Peacekeeper take my blood but the whole time I am scanning the crowd looking for Clove. I get into my place, still scanning and then I see her. She turns around, faces me and smiles. I smile back and we turn to face the Justice Building where our 'reaper' as we call her here, walks out onto the stage. I can't be bothered to remember her name but everyone always remembers her bubble-gum coloured skin and hair. She speaks for a bit, our trainers come out and we watch the film. She then announces that she is going to pick the children now. The girls always come first, at least I know that Clove will not volunteer and will be safe. Her hand goes in the bowl and comes out with a tiny piece of paper. She opens it and reads 'Clove…' I cover my ears before anything else is said; refusing to believe what just happened. Then I see her walking up towards the stage. No one is volunteering. Oh god, I can't let this happen. I can't volunteer now. My parents are going to kill me but I don't care, I can't fight Clove. She then walks over to the boys bowl and pulls out a name. She reads 'Cato…' I'm going to faint.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was supposed to volunteer so no one is going to volunteer for me. As I walk up, my friends are giving me the thumbs up. I want to punch them in the face but they know nothing. Even if they did know they wouldn't get it because they are a bunch of dumb-ass pansies. Ok Cato, calm down, you can do this, just save Clove. I walk up onto the stage and look Clove in the eye as we shake hands. She's scared, I can tell. I give her a look to say 'I'll protect you, I won't let you die' but her facial expression turns to an even more worried one after that. She doesn't want me to save her; she wants me to come back. Urg, why do I have to know her so well? Well, I'm going to make sure it comes down to the two of us and then kill myself. There is nothing she can do about it.

We walk into the Justice Building and are placed in separate rooms to say our goodbyes. My parents come in first. They say how proud of me they are and etc but I'm not really listening and I don't really care. I just want to keep Clove safe. We hug and they leave. Next my friends come in. They basically just say what their thumbs did when I was walking up on stage. These are the people I don't want to see. I don't want their support. I'm relieved when they finally leave. I am then escorted out on to the train. Our trainers will be here soon. Clove and I sit there in silence, wondering what to say to each other but the silence says it all. We both want to save one another. As out trainers walk in, Clove shakes her head slightly at me before meeting her trainer, Enobaria. She can't stop me. I'm Cato. I say hello to my trainer, Brutus before we are taking into separate rooms to talk about how we are going to get sponsors.

'You are tough and a good fighter' Brutus begins. 'But that is always the traits for a district 2 male. We need something different. You're single, right?'

'Y-yes.' I stutter. I'm not letting anyone think I'm weak for Clove.

'Ok, then we shall give the teenage ladies in the Capitol something to bet on. They could think that if you come out, they will have a shot with you because they are the reason you are alive. Get it?'

'Yes.' I say but there is one thing that is on my mind. As we leave to go to dinner, I whisper under my breath: 'Sorry Clove but I'm going to have to leave you.'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After dinner I went straight to bed, ignoring Clove who was trying to come and talk to me. I lay on my bed, blocking out all the emotions that are trying to cave in on me. I eventually fall asleep and I'm up early the next day to get ready for the tribute parade.

My stylist comes in and I completely ignore everything she is telling me, her name and etc and just let her work on me. I'm not in the mood to talk. I come out looking like a gladiator, as mostly every year district 2 does. Clove comes out after looking the same but more beautiful. I turn my head as she comes out to not get lost by her looks. I need to gain sponsors so I can keep her alive and if that means leaving her, then so be it. We mount the carriage and as soon as we know it we are being pulled out into the streets. Through her smile, I hear Clove call my name in a way that says 'we need to talk' but I pretend to not hear. All the people are cheering our names; we are always the favourite for the costumes every year. Wait, why have they stopped shouting our names? They are calling the district 12 tributes name? What the actual hell. They always have the worst costumes. Clove and I turn around at the same time to see that they are on fire. We turn back around quickly in a huff. Not this year, 12. I need to be the favourite to keep Clove alive. I make a mental note to kill them off when we get in the arena. We all gather in the square to listen to President Snow's speech which I am not listening to before we go back to where we stay. I eat in silence before going back to my room in a huff. I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling before I hear a pounding at my door.

'Cato, get out here. What is going on?' I hear Clove's voice through my door but I ignore it. I'm supposed to forget about her in order to survive. She pounds on the door again.

'Cato, don't ignore me!' She sounds like she's getting angry but again, I ignore her. After a while she leaves and I can tell she is angry by the way I can hear her footsteps and then a door slam. My girlfriend, my bad-tempered girlfriend. I smile but then I realise I'm supposed to forget her and fall asleep. Tomorrow we start training and I better have my head straight by then.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all for your support and reviews, they mean so much to me :) I apologise for the wait, I will try my hardest to update more often**

Chapter 10

I wake up and stare at the ceiling. Today is the start of training. I don't really need any more training, I have been doing this for my whole life but I guess all the other tributes are nowhere near as good as I am so they need these days. I take a deep breath and only feel my head with thoughts of training and doing well. I need to make a good impression on the gamemakers so they decide to keep me alive which will therefore, keep Clove alive as I'm not leaving her side. I get up, put on my dull, black training outfit and walk to breakfast to find that everyone is already sat down.

'Late again Cato' says the 'reaper' lady. I sarcastically laugh and take my seat next to Clove. It's extremely awkward as we all eat in silence with the occasional opinion of the food from our 'reaper'.

Brutus and Enobaria shuffle us into the elevator and stand on our right hand sides, which thankfully, separate Clove and I from standing next to each other. We arrive in the basement where the training centre is and we are the first there. Perfect, I can look around without anyone getting in my way. It's a huge room full of any weapon you can think of. On the other side is the survival part which I will be avoiding as I am going to collect all of the supplies. The tributes all start to pour in and I get a real look at my competition. Doesn't really look too much like there is much competition here but we could do with teaming up with the other careers from 1 and maybe 4 as the guy from 11 looks like he could crush us in a second. The district 12 tributes come in and I give them evils which I can see Clove is doing to. I laugh silently at this. Atala, the head trainer, wow, I actually bothered to listen and remember her name, goes on about how survival skills are just as important but I don't really care about that and blank her voice out. She dismisses us and I make my way over to the swords and spears to make sure that the gamemakers see me destroy a dummy. I can see they look pleased by this and I look over to Clove who is getting knifes in dummy's hearts every time. I guess she doesn't really need me to help me survive but I am not risking it.

Later that day I decide to see how good I am with knifes so if me and Clove get lost and that is the only weapon we have, I would be able to use it. I'm not very good at throwing them but I am very good at using them in hand to hand combat. I guess I would be ok if that scenario happened but I better stick with swords and spears. I put my knife down to practice with a spear again to come back 5 minutes later and it has gone. The district 6 male is standing by where my knife was. He must have stolen it.

'You stole my knife!' I yell as I push him continuously to intimidate him and get him to give it back. He puts his hands up and keeps saying it wasn't him but whom else could it be? Clove comes over to try and calm me down but after it's obvious that she isn't helping, she stops. Atala comes over and blows her whistle to get us to stop and get back to training while 2 men in black clothing are by my side to stop me from making another move. He will pay for this, I swear.

The training days go by and I learn new things to do with my spear training as swords I am very good at. I realise that the boy from district 12 is very strong and he should not be underestimated. I would let him into the careers if he wanted but would kill him off soon after as he doesn't seem that smart. I guess there is an unsaid pact between Clove and I and the tributes from district 1 and 4. It happens every year; we don't need to ask each other to be in an alliance.

We are all now gathered around the TV for the training scores. I don't really pay attention to district 1 as they are no competition. Clove and I both get 10's and we smile shyly at each other to congratulate one another. Usually she would run and hug me; she must be pretty sad about me leaving her. The many districts go by and none really catch my eye so I decide to head off to bed as we have to be up early to get ready for the final interviews tomorrow. As I am nearing the door I see everyone gasp at the TV and I start to run back towards it.

'11?' Clove and I shout as loud as we can.

'What did that little bitch do to get an 11?' I shout still angry. 'Did she like get naked and sleep with one of them there or something?' I stand there, so confused. Brutus is pacing, obviously re-thinking my sponsor plan. I run out of the room, into my room and slam the door so hard, the handle nearly falls off. I need to work so hard at the interviews tomorrow. I need to get these sponsors to keep Clove alive.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I woke up early the next day so that I can get ready for the final interviews tonight. Brutus takes me into a room and talks to me about how I am going to portray myself during the interview.

'You're a ruthless killing machine, got it?' He spits out. I nod in answer. I am then quickly rushed away to a room and they start to make everything look perfect. My hair, face, body, everything was adjusted to make me look better. Was it even possible to look better than I do? They dressed me all in black with a coat that was slightly silver. I looked amazing. Every girl would fall for me in the Capitol but I didn't care. There was only one girl for me. Clove and I both exited the rooms, which were opposite each other, at the same time and looked at each other for a split second before looking away awkwardly. She looked lovely with her strapless orange dress and her hair tied up in a bun. I can't think about that though. Back stage I see the huge guy from district 11, I decide to go up to him.

'Heyy, fancy being a career?' I smirk. He'll be on our side so then we have no competition. I'll kill him in his sleep or something.

'Sorry but Thresh works alone' he snaps before walking off. Ok then. We have a slight problem but if there is all of us against him, he can't win. Why did he talk in the third person? Strange. We are taken to the side of the stage and are sat down on seats ready to come up. The female and then the male go so district 1's female went first followed by the male and then Clove. District 1's girl is wearing a see through gold dress, slut. She's obviously trying to go for sexy but failing. I don't bother listening to anyone's, especially Clove's, I don't want to hear what she mentions, it could be about me and I hate hearing her voice because I long to hear it so bad but that would destroy my plan. Next is me. Caesar welcomes me up and I just talk strictly about the games and that I'm so good and I can kill everyone etc. I portrayed the ruthless killing machine very well. My time is up. I hope I did enough. All the districts go by and I learn about some I should watch out for. The red-headed girl from district 5 is very sly and elusive; she's one to keep an eye on. I bet she can walk around without a sound and then suddenly attack. I can't let that happen. There is a crippled boy from 10, he is very quiet. That could be a tactic but because he's crippled he doesn't stand a chance. He'll die in the bloodbath for sure. Then there is the district 10 girl, she's tiny and is wearing wings. How cute. Cute doesn't get you anywhere in the arena. I hear her name is Rue and she said she's hard to catch but she won't be able to kill me. She'll have to come out sometime and then she'll be dead in an instant. No competition at all. Thresh comes on and I know he has made an impression on the gamemakers with his 10. He doesn't talk much though, only answers with 'yes', 'no' or nothing at all. That won't do well with the crowd. Now the fire girl comes on. Apparently her name is Katniss Everdeen. I need her to do badly in this. She's trying to be funny but it's not working. She's twirling and her dress is on fire, yay for her but it doesn't show any good personality trait, just foolishness really. What a sad story about her sister. That's the only thing she's got going for her but if she can't fight, she can't win. She's off now, thank god. I was going to be bored to death. Next is Peeta, the strong one. Oh god, no. Is he really asking Caesar to smell him? NO, GOD NO. I'm dead. That's blown the rest of us out of the water. He just confessed his love for Katniss. No one will remember us now or sponsor us. They'll want to support the 'star-crossed lovers'. We all walk off and I am now panicking. I can see Brutus pacing and thinking. I'll be getting a note tomorrow in the launch room; he needs to make me memorable. I'm counting on him here. When we get to our floor I run past everyone else and go straight into my room. I'm starving but I don't care. I end up punching the wall with my anger. About 10 minutes later, food is slid under my door with a note. It reads 'I know you are hungry so here you are. I don't know what happened between us but I still love you and always will. Happy Hunger Games –Clove xo.' I want to cry but I can't. I eat the food, rip off my clothes and get into bed. My eyes are glassy as I fall asleep. This is it. In a matter of weeks, I'll be dead. It's worth it. Clove's worth it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Again we are awake early so there is time to transport us to the arena. The games don't start until 10 as most capitol citizens like to sleep in late. I am transported to the hovercraft in which I sit in and stare down Katniss. She knows I'm coming for her first. I have my tracker placed in my arm and we are then flying. The windows are closed though because they don't want us to know where we are going. It's not like we are going to be able to escape the darn arena, let alone find our way back but whatever. When we land, we are escorted into the lunchroom in which my stylist, whatever her name is, comes in and places my coat on me. She hands me a piece of paper which Brutus has written on. It reads: 'We needed to re-think your sponsor plan after the 11 that Katniss got and the confession of love for Peeta. 2 can play at that game. GO WITH GLIMMER. She's already crazy about you. Trust me.' OH GOD. I can't ever go with another girl but Clove. Well, if it'll save Clove, it'll have to do. I go in the tube and get ready to be lifted up. The ground moves beneath me as I start to rise. The arena is a forest with a meadow in the middle that holds the cornucopia. 49, 48, 47, 46 is the only thing that comes to my ears. 20, 19, 18, 17, 16 it continues until we are 10 seconds away when we just hear drum beats as a countdown. I count these down in my head. 5, 4, 3 I get ready to run. 2, 1 I'm off. I sprint and find the first weapon I see to kill anyone who gets in my path. 1, 2 people dead. All because of me. I find the sword, right in the middle of the cornucopia. I grab it and kill the crippled boy who was hiding in some boxes. I see Clove who is going after Katniss but fails. Never mind, we will find her and kill her sometime. I gather up all the supplies and to my surprise Peeta has come back to the cornucopia after running off into the woods. I run towards him and he starts to back away but I shout 'Want to live? Help us find Katniss.' He nods in reply and we start our trek in the woods with Clove and the tributes from district 4 and set off to find Katniss

It seems like we have been walking forever and it's starting to get dark. 'We need to get camp ready.' I say and the rest nod. As we are walking through the forest, trying to find a suitable place to stay, I see a fire up ahead. Whoever made that fire must be the stupidest person to walk this earth but it's one more kill, right? I go up and Glimmer tosses me my sword, she screams as I cut her. We continue to walk on to find camp. Peeta comes up behind me and says 'You sure you killed her?'

'Yeahh, I stabbed her myself!' I snap back. After silence and we hear no cannon I shout at him. 'Ok, go check.' He runs back and then we hear the cannon.

'Why don't we just kill him now?' Glimmer smirks. Urg, this girl annoys me.

'He's our best chance in finding her.' I reply. Peeta comes back with a bloody sword.

'She wasn't dead, I finished her off though' he says and we move on to find camp. Clove hasn't said a word to me. If I'm going to die, I don't want her to hate me but I can't think like that. She has to come out alive, whether or whether not she likes me.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry guys, I've been away so I haven't been able to update but I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy **

Chapter 13

The next thing I know is I am up and walking around for Katniss. Wait, what? I don't remember eating or sleeping… My mind must really be occupied with thinking the whole Clove situation through. The words of what Brutus wrote keep playing through my head: 'Go with Glimmer'. Ok, I guess it's time to do this. I walk up to Glimmer who was walking by herself behind Marvel and Clove while Peeta was leading.

'Heyy Glimmer' I say as I put my arm around her. She giggled.

'Hi' was her reply. This girl annoys me so bad but I guess it has to be done. For Clove.

'Too bad there is only one winner' I say, trying to act like losing her would be the worst thing ever. I leaned closer and whispered in her ear: 'But if I was betting on who would get out, I would bet on you.' I see Clove turn around but then face back quickly. Come on Cato, keep going.

She smirks and giggles before turning to face me as she says 'I know but we're not dead yet' she winks before carrying on: 'and don't bet on me, I'm nothing compared to you.'

'You think I could kill you?' I say seductively. She just bites her lip in reply as I hear a splash up ahead. Everyone's, except Peeta's, head shot up and we all ran in front of him. We're by the lake and Katniss is in the water, she looks. Yes, finally, we got this bitch. Maybe lover boy wasn't so useless after all. She sees us and the scared look on her face is priceless, I can't help but laugh. We all start running over to her shouting and screaming with pleasure as she tries to get away from us. There is no chance she is surviving. She starts to climb a tree as she knows there is no chance of her out running us.

'How's everything with you?' she calls down happily. This comment takes us all aback. Why is she happy? She's about to die.

'Well enough' I reply. 'Yourself?' Might as well be nice for the last few moments she will see daylight.

'It's a bit warm for my taste.' By the sight of her hands and calf, she has been burnt. Must have been caught in a fire. She's obviously trying to make a good impression on the Capitol but she'll be dead soon so it doesn't matter. She continues: 'The air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?'

'Think I will' I reply, I'll kill this bitch and we'll be on our way.

'Here, take this, Cato' says Glimmer. I would take them to keep the love scenario going but I just want to kill her quick so I decide to us my sword.

'No' I reply calmly and softly push them away. 'I'll do better with my sword.'

I begin to climb and see that she decides to climb higher as I do. I laugh silently, she must be scared. I'm about nine metres up when a branch cracks and I'm flailing in the air as I hit the ground hard.

'Fuck, shit' I say aggressively, that hurt a lot.

Glimmer decides to take over. Excuse me; this was my job you little whore. I decide to let her go though. She starts to climb the tree until the braches start cracking and then she stops. She shoots the arrow and it hits the tree by Katniss, missing her. Can this girl use any weapon at all? How she got chose to be a career baffles me. Katniss takes the arrow and waves it above our heads teasingly. This girl annoys the hell out of me; can someone just kill her please? I growl at her action. Suddenly, it starts to get dark and Peeta starts to talk.

'Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning.' He's got a point. Ok, we'll do that.

'Make a fire' I growl angrily as I give her one last stare for the night as the rest start on the torches. My mind is lost until I wake up and see Glimmer sleeping on my shoulder and Clove curled up in a ball in the corner on her jacket. She's cold, I can tell. This'll be a long night.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

BANG. I wake up quickly to the sound of something hitting the ground. Suddenly I am surrounded by tracker jackers. I quickly jump up, luckily Glimmer was off of my arm and I run to the lake, sword in my hand, in order to try and get away from them. In the process I got stung under the eye. When I got to the lake, I jumped in and they seemed to go away. Must hate the water. Clove jumps in soon after me and so does Marvel and Peeta. I hear 2 girls scream and hear cannons which must mean that Glimmer and the girl from district 4, never really bothered to listen to her name, must have died from the stings. My sting was bad, it had green ooze coming out from it but it didn't seem to hurt too bad so I decided to ignore it. Marvel, Peeta and Clove seem to have gotten through this with no bites. How is that possible? I'm glad Clove didn't get hurt; I couldn't really give less of a shit about the other two. Suddenly, Peeta started to run back towards the scene. Oh god, he must be helping Katniss. This was his plan all along. I ran with my sword after him and when I got there, I saw Katniss running off into the distance. I can't catch here but if I hurt her precious lover boy, she might come back and find him so I can kill her then. He looks at me scared and starts to run. He's fast but just before he outruns me, I stab my sword deep into his leg and let him carry on running. The pain my wound has caused is inevitable as he lets out a huge cry as the sword tears through his skin. I feel a wave of satisfaction as he slows down but keeps going. That wound will prevent him from hunting so he should die soon. Its only me, Marvel and Clove left. I wonder how long for…


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry I haven't been updating loads, I'm in year 11 (those of you who live in England will know what this means) and I have really important tests this year so I'll try and update every weekend from now on. I've also been planning a new story so I'll do that when I'm done. **

**Oh and - means that they are having a flashback. The flashback will end when I finish with - again.**

Chapter 15

I suggest that we go to the cornucopia and gather all the supplies so that we will have all the food and weapons etc. This will mean that if anyone wants some, they will have to come straight out into the open and into our trap. As we walk into the meadow, I see the district 3 boy going around the remaining supplies, picking up what he can. I tell the others to wait at the edge of the forest as I go over and kill him. He lets out a small squeal as I tap his shoulder with my sword and he falls to the ground. His hands protect his face as I'm about to stab him but then I have a flashback to the interviews.

-I look up at the stage as the district 3 boy goes on. He talks to Caesar about how he is prepared and etc but something he says makes me more engaged in the conversation.

'I'm very clever. I can build almost anything out of anything and am very good with electronics.'

Of course, district 3 is technology. -

I put my sword down and pull him up.

'If you help us, I won't kill you.' He nods quickly and I push him back to the others.

'District 3 here is going to help us out' I smirk. He opens his mouth as if to say his name but I give him a look and he looks away.

'Is there any way you can create a trap for people who try and steal the supplies?' I ask.

He thinks for a while before answering. 'I could activate the mines that are underneath our plates at the start but are turned off after we start. That wouldn't blow up the people if they are in the places they are now. You're going to have to move all the supplies into one place and I will surround the mines around that so if someone steps on the mines, they will explode before they get to the supplies.'

'Ok, sounds good. Clove, you go help district 3 here move the supplies into a pyramid. Marvel and I will dig up the mines so you' I look at the district 3 boy 'can make them work. We will then bury them around the supplies. Are you sure it won't blow the supplies up if someone is to step on a mine?'

'No, we will have them quite far but we will need to place some further in just in case someone figures out the trap and jumps over them. This may blow up some but unless they somehow fall on loads of them at the same time, not all of them will be blown up. I'm pretty sure no one can fall on loads at a time.' He smiles.

I push him towards Clove and they both go off to pile the supplies in a pyramid. Me and marvel take lots of weapons and use the end of them to dig up the grass. It takes a few hours but we think we have all 24 of them dug up and moved over near the pyramid. We dig holes and place them in so that the district 3 boy can work on them and all that then has to happen is they have to be covered with soil. We help Clove put the remaining supplies on the pyramid while he works and after a few hours, he is done. He calls us over.

'When you put the soil over them, only do small amounts at a time. Around 10 kilograms or more at once will set them off so be very careful.'

'Ok, you keep a look out with Clove.'

After we have finish, we all sit around talking, eating and making bets on when the first person will come to our trap. All of a sudden, we see smoke rising out of the trees.

'Heyy, look!' I point. It must be another idiot person with a fire.

Marvel, Clove and I decide to go check who is responsible so we can kill them and we leave district 3 in charge. We run through the forest, excited to have our first kill for a few days. When we get to the fire, we find it is unoccupied.

'If this a trick, I swear…' I say angrily.

All of a sudden we have a massive BOOM back where the meadow is. We all run back to see that all the supplies have been blown up. I look at the district 3 boy and he looks back at me with a scared look.

'WHAT HAPPENED? YOU SAID THAT NOT ALL THE SUPPLIES WOULD BLOW UP, YOU ABSOLOUTE IDIOT.'

I move closer to him with every word and at the end I snap and twist his neck out of anger. BOOM. The cannon goes off to signal his death.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I look around and see Clove but Marvel is nowhere to be found. We then hear a cannon and our eyes shoot from each other to the place where we came back from the forest. We jog to save our energy as we have no food to the edge of the forest where we came out of before we hear another cannon. I then start to pick up the pace and see Marvel and Rue's dead body close to each other. Rue was covered in flowers and the spear, which Marvel must have threw to kill her, still in her stomach. Marvel had a hole in his neck but no weapon in sight. Aha! It must have been Katniss; she must have tried to save Rue and killed Marvel by shooting him through the neck and taking the arrow with her. That also explains how the flowers got there. Clove and I look at each other before walking off so that the hovercraft can take the bodies away. We walk for about 2 kilometres before having a rest and talking about what we will do next.

'Now our supplies are blown up we need to find food.' She says, worried. I sense her scared tone and I use a tone that will calm her down. I know she will be fine because I won't let anything happen to her.

'Don't worry; with my sword and your knives, we are bound to catch something.'

We set up base a little way down from where we were sitting and before I know it, Clove has caught some lizard with her knives. We eat the lizard which doesn't taste as good as the supply food but it will have to do and we lay down, staring up at the sky through the trees, still awkward with everything that has happened. Then we hear a sound of someone talking, going throughout the whole arena. I prop myself up on my elbows as he talks. It's the announcer, saying that two tributes can win if they are from the same district. Clove and I look at each other instantly with happy faces but Clove's face quickly changes to a fake smile. She must have thought that we could go home together but then remembered that I don't love her anymore. But I do, and she needs to know that. I pull her into a hug, which takes her by surprise and make sure her hair is covering my face. I think whisper in her ear so the cameras can't see or hear 'It was all for the games, for you. I'm sorry.' Then lightly kiss her cheek. I come out of her hair to see her smile. We would usually hug again but she realises that I was supposed to be with Glimmer for the sponsors so we just stare at each other, our eyes saying what words can't. Night falls and we sleep back to pack but with our backs touching. To the audience, this just means we are allies warm trying to stay but to us, it shows our love for each other and how close we are. I haven't slept better in years.


End file.
